Electronic and transport properties of unbalanced sublattice N-doping in graphene

Nano Lett. 2013 Apr 10;13(4):1446-50. doi: 10.1021/nl304351z. Epub 2013 Mar 15.

Abstract

Using both first-principles techniques and a real-space Kubo-Greenwood approach, electronic and transport properties of nitrogen-doped graphene with a single sublattice preference are investigated. Such a breaking of the sublattice symmetry leads to the appearance of a true band gap in graphene electronic spectrum even for a random distribution of the N dopants. More surprisingly, a natural spatial separation of both types of charge carriers at the band edge is predicted, leading to a highly asymmetric electronic transport. Both the presence of a band gap, allowing large on/off ratio, and an asymmetric transport pave a new route toward efficient graphene-based field-effect transistors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electron Transport
  • Electronics
  • Graphite / chemistry*
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Nitrogen / chemistry
  • Particle Size
  • Transistors, Electronic*

Substances

  • Graphite
  • Nitrogen